Homeowners Insurance

Outdated assumptions about insurance coverage can cost you a bundle. Get the right coverage to protect your home and budget.

While homeowners insurance is not as price-competitive as auto insurance, you can still save hundreds a year in premium. While shopping for insurance, consider buying your homeowners and auto coverage from the same company for as much as a 30 percent savings.

Don’t Underinsure

You can save by avoiding out-of-pocket costs arising from coverage that’s inadequate to begin with. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that your coverage limits will automatically adjust to your home’s rising or falling market price. The fact of the matter is, replacement value, or the cost of labor and materials required to rebuild, is what you need to consider when insuring your home. That’s often significantly higher than the market price your home can fetch, and it rises annually (5% last year alone). Consequently, 61% of homes in the U.S.–80 million– are underinsured, according to Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, a Los Angeles company that tracks rebuilding costs for insurers. The average shortfall: 18%.

Ask us for a customized estimate of your home’s replacement cost, which will take into account its unique features, construction details, age, and any costs of meeting new local building-code requirements.

Don’t Leave Yourself Unprotected

Even if your coverage level is correct, a standard homeowner’s policy can still leave you insufficiently protected. If you want to protect against the surge in material and labor prices that often follows a natural disaster, as well as much more, you need to have endorsements, which can add up an extra 30-100% to your replacement-value limit. You’ll also need hurricane/wind, hail, flood, and earthquake insurance if you’re exposed to those risks.

Liability protection for visitors injured in your home or for damage that you, your children, or your pets cause to others is also standard. The more assets you own, the more advisable it is for you to purchase an umbrella or excess-liability policy with coverage of $1 million or more.

Check with our outstanding team of Personal Lines Specialists and get the right coverage at the right price for your family.